Glass Roses
by oily106
Summary: A story of love, sacrifice, war, peace and self belief set in early Neopia...


Glass Roses  
by oily106  
  
This story is set in Ancient Neopia, after the Faerie War but before the Aishan Wars. Pets, bereft of Faeries or owners, banded together in packs for protection. Alliances and rivalries were constantly formed and broken between warring packs and no one could feel quite safe...  
  
"Glass roses for a soldier,  
Glass roses for a friend,  
Glass roses for a lover,  
For pain that doesn't end."  
  
Nai sang the chorus of her favourite tune quietly to herself as she chopped berries.   
"You, Gelert!" A command, full of disdain, cut through her thoughts and Nai recognised the tone instantly - Tarpaw, the leader of the pack. Nai kept her body flat on the ground, showing her complete obedience. The Lupe sniffed and turned on his paw, spraying loose dirt over Nai. Nai shook herself off carefully and went back to preparing the meal.  
  
Nai hated Tarpaw - Tarpaw and half the Lupes in the Lupe-Gelert pack. But she couldn't leave. After the Faerie War, with Nai's owner long gone, she'd had to join a pack to stay alive. Her Gelert pack had been a small one and easily overwhelmed by the nearby Lupe pack. Now their mixed group offered more safety and security but the Gelerts were treated as inferiors. Nai sighed and added her berries to the pot.  
  
A distant triumphant howl reached Nai's ears. It was a hunting group, back with their catch. Only Lupes had turned to eating other pets to survive - hunting down Chias. Nai felt ill and ignored the cries. She finished off the berries and took the meal to share with the Lupes who were her friends - and opposed to Chia eating.  
  
Barely had Nai and her friends gobbled down their illicit meal than a summons was heard. Another possible ally had come to bargain terms with Tarpaw. Nai crept up to where the pack was gathering. Tarpaw was talking with a Uni - both with their packs guarding their backs. The Uni had a very light blue coat with white mane and tail, which he tossed irritably.   
"We will be able to catch them, as we can fly," he said.  
"We can catch them just fine now," retorted Tarpaw.  
"Would you prefer for us to take them elsewhere then?" The Uni locked gazes with Tarpaw as Nai desperately tried to work out what "them" they were talking about.   
"Fine." Tarpaw gave in. "Together then, we will hunt them. They must be used equally for the good of both packs and we may stop unauthorised transactions. You will also take your turns at guarding the areas were they are to be found."  
The Uni nodded curtly. "We will, of course, be staying close to you."  
Tarpaw frowned. "Have you no land of your own? The drain on food alone will be..."  
The Uni cut in smoothly. "We eat grass and there is plenty. Fortunately, we have not had to resort to eating..." The Uni cut his sentence short. "Most of my pack will stay at home, guarding our pastures. But I will stay here."  
Nai wondered what sort of leader would leave his land in someone else's charge. Obviously, "they" were very important. Nai had a sudden flash of insight - "they" were the common Faeries. Although all the other Faeries were gone, small "common" Faeries remained. They could be captured, with a little skill, and used to bless pets. That would be why the Uni stayed - in a world devoid of Faerie magic and filled with strong competition between packs, a small dribble of magic could grant immense power. Nai shook her head at their folly. There would never be peace in Neopia while individuals squabbled for power.  
  
Nai wandered off to a small glade, where she often sat. Here glass roses grew in tiny clusters and Nai often picked them, in remembrance - of soldiers, friends, lovers all lost in petty trifles. The chorus ran through her head again.  
  
"Glass roses for a soldier,  
Glass roses for a friend.  
Glass Roses for a lover,  
For pain that doesn't end."  
  
Nai stiffened, aware of a watchful gaze on her. It was the cold-eyed Uni leader, observing her with an unreadable expression.  
"Where are you doing, Gelert?" The derisive slur on Gelert was plain and the Uni spoke with a voice filled with hatred. Nai held out a bunch of glass roses in one paw. The Uni held her gaze for a minute then knocked the roses from her paw and grinded them into the ground with one hoof. Nai stared at the shining splinters of the roses - her dream of peace lay shattered. As the Uni turned, she found her voice.  
"Why do you hate Gelerts?"  
  
-  
  
Flaine heard the unexpected question with surprise and slowly turned around.   
"A pack of Gelerts took the only one I could ever love from me - in a senseless war." He kept his tone devoid of emotion, swallowing the tears that threatened to choke him inside.   
The Gelert replied.   
"I am sorry for your loss, even if I am just Nai, just a Gelert." She spoke quietly and softly. "But you should not judge us all on what we are on the outside - is that fair?"  
He regarded her blankly. "There is no fairness in Neopia any more, Nai. There is only war, and death."  
  
-  
Nai cried out in frustration.  
"Then why do you wage war too?"  
The Uni sighed. "A leader must do what is right for the pack, not what is right."  
"But you fight over Faeries for your personal gain!"  
"If I am leader, then I can try to do what is right. If I am not, then what?"  
"But will you do what is right? Or will you do what is easy?"  
The Uni stiffened. "I can but try. Sometimes, Nai, you have to fight for peace."  
Nai folded up in despair.  
"But why fight?"  
"For it is every pet's nature. Peace, like glass roses, is fragile and easily destroyed. Nothing lasts forever. I alone cannot change the world but I can fight for what I see as right."  
Nai bowed her head as she acknowledged the truth in that statement.  
"A pack is meant to unite us," she said bitterly, "but I am alone and I cannot fight alone."  
"You are not alone, Nai. Many fight silently, in their hearts. There is hope yet. When the time comes, I, Flaine, will fight too."  
The Uni melted back into the trees. Nai picked another cluster of glass roses, twirling their slender stems between her paws thoughtfully. The next part of the song went through her mind.  
  
"See:  
Eternal hopes,  
Eternal fears,  
Eternal dreams,  
Eternal tears.  
  
Eternal thoughts,  
Immortality,  
Life for death,  
Eternally..."  
  
Glass roses do not die: even if peace does not last forever, the hope for peace is eternal. Nai fingered the roses gently. Within their crystal depths, a lot hid: roses to remember the dead, bring hope to the living, to last forever perfectly unflawed. They were deceptively transparent, but yet a lot still lurked at their hearts. Nai's thoughts whirled on.  
  
Over the next few days, Nai and Flaine met several times but did not exchange a word. Nai drew hope from the words of Flaine and felt her turn to fight would come...soon. Pets had begun to tire of continual fighting and a slow but steady number had been turning towards peace. Dissension was rising in the pack, dividing it, and things came to a head one afternoon.  
  
Tarpaw had found a young Gelert while out hunting. Usually, the pet would have been absorbed into the pack quickly but the Gelert tried to fight. Now Tarpaw had called the pack together, determined to make an example of the Gelert and unite the pack under him.   
  
-  
  
The Gelert was bleeding badly and Tarpaw coldly surveyed the pitiful creature. Gelerts were inferior to Lupes - Lupes were the strongest. In times when other fools went hungry, Lupes had learnt to eat Chias. Survival was first and foremost. The strongest survived; the weakest died. The Gelert had taken on the strongest and proved weaker - it was time for it to die. Tarpaw made sure the pack watched as he rose a paw and tensed himself for the final, fatal blow...  
  
-  
  
Flaine hurried to the edge of the gathering in time to see Tarpaw raise a paw. Flaine cursed - there was so little time now to decide...but he knew what was right, and now was the time to fight for it...  
  
Tarpaw was sent reeling backwards as the Uni landed in front of him and knocked him off balance. The Uni stood proudly between him and the Gelert, blazing defiance. Flaine had made his choice - it was time to fight, and die, for his beliefs...  
  
Tarpaw growled low in his throat.  
"Stand aside!" he snapped.  
"No," said Flaine, quietly but firmly. "I have hidden and run too long. I want peace, even if I must cause war first. I want equality and freedom for all." Flaine's eyes roamed the pack, watching them make their choice.  
"All?" sneered Tarpaw. "Where are 'all' of them now, Flaine? You can' take me on alone!"  
  
-  
  
Nai heard the word echo inside her - 'alone...' When Nai had agreed to try and fight, Flaine had promised he'd be with her. The next verse neatly played itself inside her.  
  
"Alone and in darkness,  
Trapped within your pain.  
Glass roses for peace,  
You will see the light again."  
  
Nai took a deep breath and stepped forward.  
"He is not alone!" Her voice rang out clearly as she faced down Tarpaw. "I fight with him!"  
"Out of my way, Gelert," Tarpaw snarled.  
"No!"  
"I will destroy you," said Tarpaw.  
"Then I will die! For this time, I'm fighting for peace too."  
Flaine lowered his head to her ear. "This is my fight, Nai - I caused it. I don't want you to be hurt in this."  
Nai's eyes filled with tears. "I'm standing by you, Flaine - because it is right and because..." She paused and whispered, "Because I love you."  
Flaine met her eyes, surprised but joyful. "I love you too..."  
Tarpaw interrupted them in fury. "A Gelert cannot love a Uni!"  
"Species is no barrier to the heart, Tarpaw," Flaine replied calmly.  
Infuriated, Tarpaw leapt.  
  
Nai was overwhelmed by a mass of Lupe bodies - those who'd sided with Tarpaw. Kicking and biting, she struggled to break free and find Flaine. A Lupe in front of her was swept aside by a blue blur - the injured Gelert was helping them. Nai caught a glimpse of Flaine fighting Tarpaw before the Lupes covered her again.   
  
-  
  
Flaine evaded Tarpaw's leap even as he felt Nai become buried in Lupes. He tried to turn to help her but Tarpaw's claws came slicing towards him and he has to awkwardly jump to avoid it. Tarpaw was occupying all his attention, preventing him reaching Nai. Flaine opened his wings and soared upwards, above Tarpaw's reach. Below him, he could see the struggling mass of bodies - the rest of the pack had joined in. He surveyed the battle quickly, searching for Nai under the fighting pets.  
  
-  
  
Nai saw Flaine rise into the sky and hover. He caught sight of her and began to descend just as Tarpaw rose behind him. She tried to cry out but her warning was swallowed in the battling pets. Nai scratched her way through the struggle, trying to catch a glimpse of Flaine, ignoring the injuries she'd sustained. She saw Flaine's eyes go wide with shock as Tarpaw's claws dug into his neck. In panic, he shot upwards with Tarpaw still clinging onto his back. Nai could only watch helpless as Flaine thrashed in the air, trying to rid himself of Tarpaw. Two little trickles of blood marred his blue coat where Tarpaw was digging in his claws. Tarpaw howled, a long protracted howl from deep within him, and Nai felt her blood run cold as she learnt what he was going to do. She and Flaine were not the only ones willing to die for their beliefs. Tarpaw smiled insanely and summoned up the meager amount of magic he had been blessed with. Two sharp cracks resounded in the air, as Tarpaw sacrificed himself to bring down Flaine. Flaine's wings were broken and he couldn't fly. Nai screamed as the Uni and Lupe plummeted before the fight engulfed her...  
  
-  
  
Flaine's eyes snapped open. He tried to rise but a burst of pain made him sink to the ground. Not far away, Tarpaw's still form lay, his face still locked in an insane grin. Flaine lay still too, his mind numb from the fall, praying that Nai would come through alive.  
  
Flaine felt himself being moved and reopened his eyes. A Gelert and a Lupe, new scars running across their bodies, were assisting him to his feet. Flaine tried to avoid looking at Tarpaw's body. He looked around instead - the glade he had fallen into was filled with glass roses, many shattered from where he had fallen.   
The Gelert smiled wearily.  
"Well, we found you alive anyway," he said. There had been a slight stress on the "you" but Flaine was too tired to comprehend what it meant yet. The Lupe and Gelert eased him to the edge of the glade, into a small meadow, where he drifted back into blackness.  
  
When he awoke, he could hear a sweet voice, singing low.  
  
"Lay glass roses for remembrance,  
For what has long passed.  
Memories and people die,  
Glass roses will last..."  
  
  
"Nai?" he asked in joy, opening his eyes. A blue Gelert approached him, a shadow of pain flitting across its face.  
"I am honoured to meet you, Flaine, and I owe my life to you. I am Doran, the Packless One."  
"Nai?" whispered Flaine. "Where is Nai?"  
Doran's head dropped and he opened his paw. Flaine craned his head forwards to look at the object in his palm - it was a small bunch of glass roses...  
  
-  
  
A Uni with broken wings and a broken heart was the last to visit the quiet glade, as all the other mourners were leaving. He bent down, laying a single glass rose on the new mound, in memory of the Gelert he had loved. The final verse played itself out in his mind and he sung it slowly, aloud.  
  
"In their fragile beauty,  
Sorrowful tears live on.  
Glass roses, glass roses,  
For those that are gone."  
  
The Uni looked up at the sky, his eyes filled with tears, his empty heart with old memories and newfound resolve.   
"Gone but not forgotten," he whispered.  
The Uni let his limp wings trail in the dirt as he knelt down and remembered amongst the glass roses...  
  
  
  
Dedications -  
After a terrible tragedy, some guy was giving out glass roses on the chat boards. I don't know who you were but this was inspired by and dedicated to "some guy"  
And also to the community at Neopets and the NT Writer's Forum, for anyone who's ever given support, encouragement or kindness.  
And to peace, forever. 


End file.
